It will now be easier to pick up prescriptions at your local drug store in Illinois.
Governor J.B. Pritzker signed legislation sponsored by Macomb State Representative Norine Hammond last week that ends a rule that required pharmacists to be present when people pick up their prescription, even if it was already filled, packaged, and signed off on by the licensed staff.
The law ends the practice of customers being turned away at the counter of their pharmacy because the pharmacist is out and no one else in the store is allowed by law to make the sale. The problem has especially hit rural portions of the state hard as rural pharmacies have cut back on staff and hours due to a statewide shortage of pharmacists and current economic hardships. Hammond says the bill allows other staff to check people out at the pharmacy: “Basically, it just ensures the patient’s protection and prevents lapses in patient care when the pharmacist is not present; but the prescriptions have received full verification by a pharmacist.”